The present invention relates generally to disinfectants and products having same. More specifically, the present invention relates to materials having antimicrobial properties and products made therefrom.
In the medical industry, one of the principal concerns with respect to products that are introduced into the body or provide a pathway into the body is bacterial infection. The industry continually strives to reduce the incidence of bacterial infection caused by bacteria contamination of medical apparatuses. This is particularly true in connection with medical apparatuses that cannot normally be sterilized in autoclaves or which when used encounter bacteria containing environments.
For example, sutures, catheters, surgical tape, tubings, sponges, gloves, pads, surgical covers, dialysis connectors, and certain medical instruments cannot be autoclaved to ensure sterility. They often must be used in areas where pathogenic bacteria are encountered. Accordingly, for such medical apparatuses, the art has long sought means and methods of rendering those medical apparatuses antibacterial and, hopefully, antimicrobial.
The general approach in the art has been that of coating the medical apparatuses, or a surface thereof, with a bactericide. However, since most bactericides are partly water soluble, or at least require sufficient solubilization for effective antibacterial action, simple coatings of the bactericides have been proven unreliable. For this reason, the art has sought to incorporate the bactericides into the medical apparatus or at least provide a stabilized coating thereon.
With the increased use of polymeric materials for construction of medical apparatuses, utilizing an antimicrobial polymer has become even more desirable. The art, therefore, has sought various combinations of plastics and antibacterial agents. The antibacterial agent could be fixedly attached to or incorporated in the plastic, so that the combination thereof could be used for the manufacture of these plastic medical apparatuses.
This relatively recent effort in the art has taken a myriad of different approaches. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,401,005, in an attempt to create a product that functions satisfactorily, applies a complexed composition of polyvinylpyrrolidone and iodine to cotton gauze. When dried, the coated material would have a germicidal characteristic. In a similar effort, a complexed composition of polyvinylpyrrolidone and iodine was placed in absorbable, gelatin foams to produce surgical sponges. In the '005 patent, iodine is complexed with polyvinylpyrrolidone. The complexed composition was found to release iodine under use conditions.
Solid polyvinylpyrrolidone complexed with iodine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,898,326 as useful as a disinfectant material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,407 extends this complexed composition to include detergents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,380 relates to a polymeric bacteriocidal composition for use in antibacterial applications. The composition of the '380 patent contains a plastic, sparingly cross-linked polyurethane having --O--(CO)--NH-- urethane linkages and iodine complexed with a sufficient number of the linkages to provide bacteriocidal properties to the composition. Iodine solutions having concentrations of from 1% to 15% were utilized for complexing the iodine with the urethane linkages.
Utilizing a plastic completely complexed with iodine as a potential self-sterilizing material has disadvantages. Among other factors, the concentration of the iodine in the solution and the solvent of the iodine solution limits the amount of iodine completed with the polyurethane. Further, the rate of release of iodine from plastics complexed with iodine depends upon the affinity the plastic has for iodine. As a result, these complexed plastics often do not provide an effective delivery of iodine into the atmosphere or a liquid for sufficient antimicrobial treatment.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved antimicrobial material containing not only increased concentrations of a bacteriocidal substance, but also an effective and controlled delivery of the bacteriocidal substance.